


S M I L E

by BlankSpaceArt



Series: Spooky Tales [1]
Category: 2nd person - Fandom, Horror story - Fandom, Original Work, post-apocalypse - Fandom, y/n - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2020-12-21 12:37:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21075032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlankSpaceArt/pseuds/BlankSpaceArt
Summary: Currently in progress: TW!! NOT FOR THE EASILY DISTURBED/FAINT OF HEART, READ AT OWN RISKA horror story in 2nd person. Explore a (seemingly) post-apocalyptic world, and meet new friends along your journey. Branching paths are polled with my peers to determine which way the story will go.





	1. Wake Up

“Why so glum, little one? Have a smile!” 

. . . 

You wake up in a dark and dusty room. It’s long abandoned judging from the thick layer of dust on everything… including you. The sheet of dust slides off you as you sit up, bits clinging to your clothes, cobwebs and dust bunnies sticking to what seems to be old, worn-out fleece. As you look around, it takes a few heartbeats for your eyes to adjust to the low light. When they do, you’re able to make out more of what’s around you.  
  
You’re in some kind of boiler room, the formerly large water tank to your right, long since collapsed into itself from lack of care. Pipes are just as rusty and cracked, metal pieces turned to red dust scattered across the floor. A small amount of light comes in from somewhere above you, soft and cold.  
  
As you get to your feet, you feel the world spin and sway, and you desperately reach out to grab something to hold onto. The wall ends up being the most sturdy thing within arm's length. It takes a moment of squeezing your eyes tightly shut for things around you to settle back down. Once you no longer feel like throwing up every organ in you at once, you take another slow look around the small boiler room, trying to find the source of the light. It’s somehow coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once, an ambient lighting in the room. You force shaky, unused legs to move, your body feeling alien, unnatural. You can hear your odd manual breathing, your slow, booming heartbeat in your ears, your muscles’ screeching and groaning practically audible with each slow, painful step. Stepping out into the room, you get a clearer picture of where you are, this small concrete-enclosed space standing alone beneath the ground. Tilting your head back, you finally see where the weird ambient light is coming from; a large, icy-looking, shattered sphere in the sky. You find yourself looking at it for longer than you intended, entranced by the glossy pieces trapped by the sky.  
  
As you snap yourself out of the trance, you try to look for a way out of the room you’re in. Shaky legs take you around the edge of the room, dry hands and fingers scraping along the wall. You don’t know what you’re looking for, but there has to be something there. Your fingers find a ledge on the wall, and you hungrily rip it open, exposing a dark corridor. Your feet move on their own, taking you into the black abyss. It takes you a minute for your eyes to adjust just enough that you can make out vague shapes in the darkness. Running your hand along the wall as you go, you eventually come to an intersection in the hallway. Shadows seem to swirl around you as you look at your options. Three ways to go. Left, Right, and Center.

  
You choose the center path, figuring it’s your best chance of escape. The hallway gets dark enough to where you can’t see anymore soon enough, leaving you stumbling blindly, using the wall for reference that you’re still making progress, feeling the rough and crumbling drywall under your fingers. You hear a clatter as your foot hits something, kicking it a few feet away from you. You kneel down, slowly crawling forward, hands searching like antennae until you find what it was. A lantern. Lifting it, you gauge that there’s still plenty of oil in it to burn, you just need to find a way to light it. You feel around for something like a matchbox first, before patting yourself down blindly, grabbing each lump in the jacket’s pockets with hope, but finding nothing. You feel your surroundings again, carefully feeling every lump of rock you find. Finding something that feels vaguely like metal, you strike the ground with it, rewarded with a flash of light as a burst of sparks fly and quickly die out mid-air. You repeat the action closer to the lantern, managing to light it this time. The soft orange glow kindly illuminates the dark corridor, showing you a hallway littered with bones among large pieces of concrete that fell from the ceiling and walls. Cracks run across the entirety of the concrete surrounding you, the tunnel unstable.  
  
You feel the need to get out as soon as possible.  
  
Holding the lantern to light your path, you continue down the corridor, treading carefully to avoid making too much noise and upsetting the vibration-sensitive walls. The lantern’s warm glow brings you some comfort, but not much. You come across a skeleton after what seems like an eternity walking. The bones are old, covered in cobwebs, long picked clean. You don’t recognise the outfit its wearing, but you know it’s some kind of uniform, a sword in its hand. It looks like it was trying to back away from something. A few steps further and you see a large hole in the floor of the hallway, the hall beyond it collapsed in on itself.   
You take a deep breath, and slide into the giant hole. Stumbling as you hit the ground of this new cavern, you regain your balance and hold up the lantern to try and see where you are.  
  
You’re in some kind of tunnel system, the hole you climbed into leading to a large cavern covered in holes, like a giant ant farm. Uncertain, you try to turn around to go back, but the dirt is too loose and the slope too steep for you to be able to climb back out. You try to calm yourself down, rationalizing that whatever dug these holes must be long dead, if that skeleton is as old as you think it is.  
It is dead… right?  
  
…  
  
You feel like you’ve been walking for centuries, every bone, every muscle groaning in protest as you keep going. So far, none of the tunnels you’ve tried get you anywhere useful. It’s all dead ends, turnarounds, and more caverns full of more holes. You really wish you didn’t come down here. Occasionally, you’ve felt the tunnels rumble and shake, but you’re clinging with a white-knuckled grip to the hope that those are just earthquakes.  
  
You sense this tunnel opening up, groaning internally at the aspect of yet another cavern… until you hear running water. You stop, and then pick up the pace, practically sprinting as you come into another cavern, this one an underground oasis. Lush greenery and softly glowing mushrooms surround a pool and a small stream pouring down from the ceiling. Hope that maybe you will get out of here before you die flutters in your chest. You feel how dry your throat is, how grungy your hands are. As eager as you are, you still carefully check around the oasis for any signs of anyone - or anything - else in the cavern. Once you know you’re safe, you set the lantern on a rock beside the pool, and wade in, eyes closing blissfully at the warmth of the water on your cold skin and clothes.  
  
You spend more time there than you should, but you don’t mind. You eventually drag yourself out of the water, wringing out the fleece jacket. Putting it back on once it’s no longer dripping, you grab the lantern again, taking another look around. This cavern only has one other tunnel entrance, much larger than the others before. You slowly make your way in, lantern held high to illuminate the dirt walls. The tunnel leads you upward, giving you hope that you’re close to the surface.   
That hope drops like rocks into the pit of your stomach as you realize the tunnel is caved in… but the wall is moving? You step closer, inspecting the ‘wall’.   
It’s not a wall, it’s the skin of a giant creature covered in a fine layer of dirt. Wiping off the dirt reveals a skin-like texture. You feel your blood run cold. This is exactly the opposite of what you wanted to encounter down here.  
  
You look back down the tunnel, weighing your options. You could wake it up and lure it to the oasis, if you’re quick… you doubt you can find your way back through that labyrinth of tunnels. Of course, you don’t exactly want to be eaten, either.  
What to do…  
  
While you’re pondering, the wall of flesh shifts, slithering past you. The cavern entrance is empty for a moment, before a single giant eye stares back at you, glowing a yellow-white. The pupil flicks around, before settling on you, the tunnel rumbling.   
Oh, fuck.  
  
You slowly back away from the giant worm creature, lantern rattling softly in your shaking hand. You stare at the thing. It stares back. Nothing happens for a long moment as you carefully back away, before you hear the loud shifting of the small rock beneath your heel coming loose and rolling down the tunnel. Instinctively, your body freezes as the pupil staring at you becomes a barely visible split, then the eye begins to close. Taking advantage of this, you immediately turn and sprint back down the tunnel, hearing creaking behind you as the tunnel shakes. You force yourself to not look back and see what’s going on.   
Feet pounding into the dirt below you, you feel the vibrations of the huge worm slithering after you. Thankfully, you have a head start, just enough to where you make it back to the oasis and fling yourself to one side, hiding in the foliage. Just in time, too, the worm slithering in, giant bone-jaws in place of where its eye was, even the smallest teeth taller than you are. You hold your breath, hoping it passes by.  
  
Your heart pounds in your chest, blood rushing in your ears, watching the creature. It stops at the entrance to the oasis, head turning this way and that. You feel yourself feeling the building need to breathe as it looks for you.  
  
It eventually slithers down into the further tunnels. You let out the breath you’re holding, gasping for air. You don’t linger too much longer, though, making a break for it through the tunnel leading to where it was curled up.  
  
The tunnel leads to another huge cavern, sending a shiver down your spine with context of just how big that thing was. The walls and floor are covered in a slimy substance, your feet making sickening slurping noises with each step. Glancing nervously over your shoulder as you go, you slowly make your way across the cavern to the tunnel on the other side. You’re slowed down considerably by the odd goop, feeling like you’re wading through thigh-high water. The tunnel has a steep incline, and suddenly you’re thankful for the sticky substance allowing you to climb up and out.  
  
You finally come out into what looks like the mouth of a cave, surrounded by more glowing mushrooms, the stream that pours down into the oasis to your left. It looks to still be the middle of the night outside, the dense forest beyond the cave opening brightly lit by the shattered ice moon overhead. A rumble beneath your feet interrupts your admiring the scenery, convincing you to make a mad dash out of the cave and into the open air.  
  
\- End of part one -


	2. PART TWO: THE FOREST

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T e n s i o n ~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short part 2, part 3 will be longer I promise.

You are incredibly, hopelessly, lost. Nothing to guide you through the thick mass of trees, you feel like you’ve been going in circles. You can’t even use the sky for orientation, the canopy overhead blocking out most of the light from the moon. It doesn’t seem like any time has passed since you first entered the forest.  
  
You stop underneath a huge oak tree, taking a moment to catch your breath and try to get your bearings. The silent forest around you is eerie, a light fog swirling around in between the trees. Your lantern went out long ago by now, leaving you in the darkness, but your eyes soon adjusted to a very faint ambient silver light in the woods around you.  
  
You rest your hand on the tree trunk next to you, legs aching as you debate whether this is worse than the wyrm. On one hand, nothing seems to be chasing you here… yet… but the caves at least had landmarks.  
  
You groan, straightening your back again. Feeling the rough bark under your fingers, you get an idea. You dig in your pockets. Your frantic flailing eventually flings a box of matches out of your pocket and onto the grassy ground. You immediately kneel down and pick the small box up, looking at the few matches left. There’s exactly five, you have to use them wisely. A groan escapes your throat. Five matches? Really?  
  
You decide you can make do, and make them last, lighting one at a time for only short bursts to mark the trees at every junction you come across. The last match is beginning to burn your fingertips as you finally reach a clearing.  
  
In front of you is a small village nestled at the edge of the woods. You breathe a sigh of relief at seeing signs of civilization, having felt yourself get more and more tense the longer you spent in the forest.  
  
You step into the silent village, hearing the gravel road crunch beneath your feet. You hope there’s someone here you can talk to. Anyone.  
  
\- End of part two -


	3. PART THREE: PLATEAU VILLAGE

The village is as silent as the forest was, uncomfortably so. You look around the streets, searching for any sign of people living here. Eventually you sigh, figuring your best bet is to go door to door and try to find someone. You backtrack to where you came into town, starting slowly and coming up to each door in turn. Most are padlocked shut. You try every lock, but no dice, nothing’s loose. 

The rhythmic sounds of your three knocks on each wooden door echo throughout the village. You pause after each round of knocks, listening for movement. Occasionally behind some of the doors you hear rustling and scraping, but something’s off about it. 

You choose not to linger too long outside the houses. 

… 

Exhausted, you sit down on the steps of one of the houses, head in your hands. You’ve been to every single building in town, and there’s been no sign of anyone. You’re just beginning to think that maybe there is no one around here when you hear shuffling of several pairs of feet, off to your left. You lift your head, listening. The footsteps get closer, each pair indistinguishable from the next, sounding like a group of people… with limps? 

You feel your stomach sink down to your feet as what you’re hearing comes into view, a mass of what used to be people, broken and decaying bodies staggering out into the street, into the moonlight. What’s left of their eyelids and faces have been twisted into grotesque smiles, mouths stitched closed, metal tabs at their temples dragging their eyelids and cheeks up into that pose. 

You get up, taking a step back from the horde, knocking a piece of concrete loose, alerting them to your presence. They stop, then turn to look at you in unison, bones creaking audibly with the sickening twist of decayed muscles. You feel bile rise in the back of your throat, but you manage to swallow it back, taking slow and careful steps away from them, trying to give them no reason to charge you. Mostly empty eye sockets - maybe eight or nine pairs - stare back at you, holding your gaze. You feel your hands instinctively raise just as slowly as you back up. 

You’re almost out of their sight when your leg hits something, causing you to trip and fall backwards over it, hitting your head on something hard as you land, air knocked out of your lungs. You feel the thundering of feet on the ground as the horde charges. 

Time goes in slow motion as you panic, scrambling to get up, feeling the grate of decaying muscles sprint towards you, drawing closer and closer. Your throat is dry, feet slipping on the soft dirt beneath you. 

There’s a hand on your arm, yanking you out of the way and into the house you were in front of, the door slamming shut behind you as you stumble and hit the wooden floor. Your ears ring with adrenaline as there’s scraping and banging at the door. 

You roll over onto your back, taking a moment to catch your breath as you calm down again. Someone bends over you, a mask covering their face. They cock their head to one side in a curious motion, seeming to silently ask if you’re okay. 

You manage a weak nod to assure them you’re fine. They offer you a hand up, and you take it, groaning softly as you get to your feet. They check you over, looking for injuries, seeming satisfied when they find none, stepping back from you, allowing you to get a good look at them.

They’re dressed in a mismatched patchwork of rags in the semblance of a shirt and tights, the outfit full of rips and holes, long unwashed. The mask is just as dirty, formerly bright red third eye design on the forehead now faded. The visible bits of skin there are — most of the person’s body is covered — show dark, burnt-caramel colored skin, covered in pink scars. Scratches, cuts, bite marks… They seem like they’ve been living in this village for a long time. 

You offer an apology, asking their name. 

They don’t really answer, simply giving a curt nod to indicate its fine. 

The two of you sit in silence for a moment, your mind still processing the emotions that come with finally meeting another person in this deserted world. It takes you a moment to realize they’re tugging at the sleeve of your coat, trying to get your attention. As you look back to them, they turn and point out one of the boarded-up windows, silently telling you to look out. You comply, stepping over to peer through the boards, out into the eternal night. You can make out a thinning of the trees a little way beyond the edge of the village, the forest seemingly giving way to a large grass plain. 

Looking back to your newfound companion, you gesture towards the wide open space beyond the town.  _ ‘That’s the way forward?’ _

They nod, before looking back towards the now-silent door. The undead seem to have given up trying to get in, leaving things quiet and peaceful once again. They point towards the door, making a motion you understand to mean  _ ‘it’s safe now’ _ . 

You shake their hand in thanks, questioningly tilting your head toward the door,  _ ‘Are you coming with?’ _

They pause, and shrug. You take that as a ‘maybe’ for now. Turning back toward the door, you keep a light grip on their hand as you slowly open the door and step back out into the silver night. The undead are nearby, but if you’re quiet, you should be okay. Stepping as quietly as possible, your companion’s hand in yours as they follow behind, you make your way carefully to the edge of the village, and then to the edge of the forest. Soon enough you’re standing at the divide between the forest and the vast expanse of grass in front of you. 

As relieved as you are… you can’t help but have a sinking feeling in your gut. But you push it aside, looking back to your companion. They nod reassuringly at you. You freeze briefly, looking back at the expanse of waist-high grass, before you summon up the courage to step out into the open, letting yourself be practically engulfed by the bright light from the shattered moon. You subconsciously keep a firm grip on your companion’s hand, reminding yourself of their soft presence at your side. 

. . . 

You’re just starting to relax in this seemingly empty field, when there’s suddenly nothing underneath you anymore. You feel yourself fall, quickly stopped and dragged back up above ground by your friend. Scrambling back to your feet, you look at what you almost fell into, and your heart sinks down into your worn and tattered boots. It’s a gigantic hole, easily three times as big as you are in diameter. You swallow hard. Not this thing again. 

You quickly bring your companion away from the hole, frantically gesturing that you both need to go far, far around these things. They tilt their head at you, confused. You try again to explain that you need to leave this area. Now. 

They shrug, waving dismissively, stepping past you to head into the minefield of gigantic holes. Sighing, you follow at a safe distance. 

. . . 

You can begin to make out the edge of the field just beyond your companion when things begin to go wrong. They start to pick up their pace, sprinting toward the edge of the field. You reach out to their back, yelling an unheard warning. 

As they jump over one of the holes, giant jaws breach the ground, opening around them in mid-air. You feel every single muscle in your body freeze, making you stare in horror as the jaws snap shut with a sickening crunch of bones. The wyrm slowly slides back down beneath the ground. 

Your throat is extremely dry as you try to swallow back bile, staying extremely still, feeling the vibrations beneath your feet of the wyrm slithering around its maze of tunnels. You have to get away from this place. You have to reach the edge of the forest. 

You have to. 

You force yourself to move, taking slow, careful steps toward the forest, stopping dead as soon as you feel it getting close to where you are. Seconds turn into centuries as you make your way to the edge of the forest. 

As you draw near the very last hole the Wyrm’s dug, you unconsciously start to pick up the pace, chest filling with hope. It soon deflates again as you feel the vibrations beneath your feet draw near, but you’re desperate to make it before the creature gets here. You lunge for the bushes as you feel it breach behind you, feeling the whip of air and the slight graze of wet teeth on your bare feet. The  _ snap! _ of its jaws behind you is deafening. 

You hit the ground hard, wheezing as you scramble desperately for the cover of the thick trees, the wyrm thrashing about, snapping its jaws as it tries to find you. You take shelter behind a thick tree, hand over your pounding heart as you try to catch your breath. You hear the crunch of wood being splintered behind you, your heart skipping a beat or five as you hear a tree fall, followed by an otherworldly scream, and then silence, the vibrations fading away again. 

You let out the breath you were holding. You’re safe… for now.

\- End of part 3 -


End file.
